I made these two aprons, for my daughter, Emily, using Tif’Fussell’s a ‘perfectly peach’ pinny recipe for making an apron from vintage and retro pieces. The only new things I bought, aside from thread, was ribbons since I didn’t have old sheets or other long pieces of fabric that I wanted to use for making the ties for the aprons. This “recipe,” as well numerous others for crafts projects or ideas for decorating your home in a lovely floral, or doily, “Granny Chic” style are available in the book, which was put together by Tif Fussell and her friend Rachelle Blondel. Both have a history of blogging, Rachel is still blogging. Tif is no longer blogging however one can view her older posts at: http://dottieangel.blogspot.com/ and Rachell’s still current blog is at: http://www.dockandnettle.com/  She also has her blog from at the time the book was written:http://talesoftedandagnes.blogspot.com/  I have found that looking through the old blog posts one often finds nice craft projects.

I was considering doing an entire post on this “Granny Chic” book; however it seems like it’d be easier to do various posts about some of the different projects as I go along. The book is great, by the way, especially for those who have a notion to be “crafty.” There are covered lamp shades you can create with floral fabrics, round pillows, bottles covered in fabric, these are just to name a few.  If you’d like a glimpse into Dottie Angel’s world you can go to Flickr and view her albums like Mossy Shed, which display photos of Tif Fussell’s lovely home and air streamer. I’d show you some pictures; however they are not available for download. You can view them at: https://www.flickr.com/search/?q=dottie+angel   I have spent an hour or two viewing these albums a few times since they are so inspiring!! The other good news is that Tif has a pattern coming out for her “Dottie Angel Frock” this month with Simplicity patterns. I am eager to buy it as soon as it comes out since her dresses are marvelously simple and beautiful.  I created a small gallery below, of a picture of the book and a few photos I took of the book, and some of its pictures inside.

The first apron I made was relatively simple to create; it is the orange and yellow one in this post. I used one side of a vintage pillowcase, added a vintage placemat, sewed down the center of the placemat to create large pockets and added some colorful ribbons to the top. Emily had just folded over the ribbons in the photos and I didn’t realize it! I used an old t-shirt’s orange lace for the lace.  I found the t- shirt at a clothing swap.  We all know I like to recycle things, find a new use for them.

The second apron was significantly more work, yet it was really fun to create it. I used a retro pillowcase my mother had embroidered years ago, a few pieces of vintage linens and some small pieces of fabric, or patches of embroidery to cover stains, or spots, where the fabric was wearing thin on the blue vintage piece in the center of the apron.  I was very pleased with the lovely collaged look of the final outcome of the project. I have a history of enjoying making collages so that part came naturally to me. The corner pieces in the apron that are patchwork quilted is from a fair in Pennsylvania, where I bought several of those squares for a low price from a quilter about thirty years ago.

The second apron was significantly more work, yet it was really fun to create it. I used a retro pillowcase my mother had embroidered years ago, a few pieces of vintage linens and some small pieces of fabric, or patches of embroidery to cover stains, or spots, where the fabric was wearing thin on the blue vintage piece in the center of the apron.  I was very pleased with the lovely collaged look of the final outcome of the project. I have a history of enjoying making collages so that part came naturally to me. The corner pieces in the apron that are patchwork quilted is from a fair in Pennsylvania, where I bought several of those squares for a low price from a quilter about thirty years ago.

I hope you enjoyed this post about making these lovely aprons. I certainly enjoyed making them, and Emily will enjoy having them. I want to make a couple for myself now! I need to go hunting for more vintage pieces to add to what I have!

  All photos by Marilyn Lavender.  All written material by: © Marilyn Lavender, 2015.  “All Rights Reserved.”